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Trump Team on the Attack Against Harris Running Mate Tim Walz; "Squad" Member Rep. Cori Bush Loses Dem Primary in Missouri; Walz Appears to Challenge J.D. Vance to Debate. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired August 07, 2024 - 08:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

GOV. DOUG BURGUM (R-ND): When the election is coming. The honeymoon period of just talking and fawning over the bios is going to go away. And this election is going to be about inflation, the border, our wars overseas. And those are the issues where Trump is strong and Harris is weak.

[08:30:14]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Did you know that when he was in Congress, Tim Walz voted for the Keystone Pipeline?

BURGUM: Yes, but he certainly has changed as governor. I mean, he's -- he's -- he's signed into law and supported every liberal progressive policy that Minnesota's had the last four years. And I think it's part of the reason why, you know, Bernie Sanders liked him. And it's part of the reason why Harris picked him, because, you know, her California policies and the Minnesota policies are very, very much aligned.

And as you were just commenting -- and you're commenting with, I mean, part of the reason why we've got Tim Walz as a VP pick is because the Harris in her first choice as a presidential candidate basically was, you know, bowed to the Hamas wing of the Democrat Party and said we can't have someone who supports Israel on the ticket.

BERMAN: Governor, are you Jewish?

BURGUM: Me?

BERMAN: Yeah.

BURGUM: No, I'm not.

BERMAN: OK, I'm asking that because you weren't picked to be Donald Trump's running mate. So there are other reasons besides religion not to be chosen as a running mate, correct?

BURGUM: Well, yeah, and I mean -- yeah, because Shapiro also had spoken out that he was a pro school choice. And of course, that doesn't fly with the teachers unions. And so, you know, I can understand why maybe Shapiro is popular in Pennsylvania because he's adopted somewhat would be considered Republican policies.

BERMAN: Let me ask you this, Governor. How would you describe the decision-making capabilities of people who don't have children?

BURGUM: Well, I think that this debate about that is, I mean, we've got Americans and whether you've got people that are step parents, parents, single. I don't think that that matters. And I think it's a question about, you know, how do we move this country forward that works, make sure it works for everybody?

And that's why President Trump's policies, whether it's reducing inflation or protecting the border, I think, again, everyone's talking about, you know, what's the right thing for America? But the policies that President Trump is going to run on and win on, it doesn't matter if you're Republican, independent or Democrat, those policies improve your life. And that's how voters are going to decide this fall. Are they better off today than they were four years ago? The answer is going to be no. And they're going to vote for President Trump.

BERMAN: Would you ever use the phrase childless cat ladies?

BURGUM: I -- that's not a phrase that I would -- would -- would ever consider using, no. But I think that what it's not -- it's not going to determine how this election goes, because, again, this is going to be between President Trump and it's going to be between Harris, between those two. And it's whose policies. You've got a -- Harris has -- you know, didn't have to go through a primary to get to the position where she's now the nominee. And she doesn't have a single -- as of two days ago, there wasn't a single policy on her website. And it's just a blank slate right now.

And I think Americans are going to want to know what she's going to do about inflation, what's she going to do about the border, what's she going to do about energy policy?

BERMAN: I do think you're right that people are going to want to know more positions from both candidates. And certainly we encourage both to do as many interviews as possible.

I keep hearing you talk about the Democratic process here, and I'm struck by how much concern there has been from some Republicans and how the Democrats chose their nominee here. And I do wonder, is this some kind of predicate maybe to argue about the legitimacy of the election if the Republican ticket loses again?

BURGUM: No, I don't think it's that. I just think this is a reaction to a lot of the last year. All you've heard from the Democrats was about their concerns about democracy. And I think if they're going to claim -- try to claim high ground there and then not apply it to their own process, it's going to become political fodder.

But I think the real issue is we know that when Joe Biden got put in four years ago, it was a ruling coalition that came together through some form of agreement. And I mean, he went from getting fifth in New Hampshire to winning South Carolina in less than two weeks.

And the same thing happened here behind the scenes, behind closed doors, you know, whether the powers that be, whether those are donors or brokers or former presidents said, hey, you know, Biden's out and Kamala is going to be in. And I think that that's just what happened. I think everybody knows that, your commentators, Ron Klain himself and others have just said, hey, this is how this thing went down.

And it's just an unusual thing in America when generally we've got a competitive primary to produce candidates. And, you know, in our case, President Trump won a highly contested primary.

BERMAN: Governor Doug Burgum, we do appreciate your time. Thanks so much for being with us.

Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right new this morning, another major defeat for progressives in Congress.

[08:35:00]

CNN projecting that the so-called squad member Cori Bush will lose her House seat in the Missouri primary. That story more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: A second member of the so-called squad, the group of progressive lawmakers in the House has been ousted in a primary. Democratic Congresswoman Cori Bush of Missouri lost her race last night.

CNN Congressional Correspondent Lauren Fox is joining us now.

Lauren, was this a surprise? I know there was a lot of heat on her and she was taken over by Wesley Bell who has become well-known in Missouri as well.

[08:40:04]

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah exactly. I mean this was a really expensive primary race. The second most expensive Democratic primary in the country after that spending that we saw against Jamaal Bowman in New York. He lost earlier this year by 15 points and he was also a member of the squad.

This race, this victory by Wesley Bell came after there were a lot of issues that Cori Bush was fighting against in the first congressional district in Missouri. One of them was the fact that she was an early and fervent caller for a ceasefire in Gaza and as a result the Super PAC affiliated with AIPAC actually got involved in this race spending nine million dollars on ads against her including ads that highlighted the fact that Bush was one of six Democrats in the House to vote against President Joe Biden's infrastructure bill back in 2021.

Now, she voted against it because she believed that it didn't have enough climate provisions in the legislation but what she was painted as is being a thorn in the side of the President in a very strongly held Democratic district, that really went on to hurt her.

The other attacks against her were that she was more focused on national issues than local issues. And obviously this is a huge moment for progressives in the House of Representatives because she is seen as a member of the squad. She is seen as someone who has close ties to progressives.

She was also facing an FBI investigation into the misuse of campaign funds something that she has denied. But there were just so many issues going into this primary that were stacked against her. So it's not a complete surprise that she lost last night.

SIDNER: Lauren Fox, thank you so much for that there from Capitol Hill, actually the newsroom there in Washington D.C., appreciate it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ, (D) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Minnesota's strength comes from our values, our commitment to working together, to seeing past our differences, to always being willing to lend a helping hand. Those are the same values I learned on the family farm and tried to instill in my students.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That is Minnesota Governor Tim Walz leaning into his Midwestern roots as the Trump campaign and Republicans are trying to define him this morning as a liberal.

Ken Martin, Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee and the Chair of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party joins us now. Always good to speak to someone from the DFL. Thanks so much for being with us.

Look you've heard Republicans talking this morning saying that Governor Walz is anti-energy, soft on crime, bad for the Minnesota economy. What's your response to that?

KEN MARTIN, CHAIRMAN, MINNESOTA DEMOCRATIC-FARMER-LABOR (DFL) PARTY: Well look they're going to say whatever they're going to say. The reality is his record speaks for himself and itself. Look crime is down in Minnesota. We have record job growth. Minnesota is the economic engine for the upper Midwest. We have the best GDP, the lowest unemployment rate, more people working than ever before. We have real job growth and wage growth in this state.

The reality is, is that, you know, I think folks like Doug Burgum, North Dakota, South Dakota governors are jealous what Governor Walz has been able to do here in Minnesota and his record is one of success. And you know, look when he came into being governor and into office he sat down and he said he was going to build one Minnesota, one that worked for people throughout the state and that's what he's done.

It's not a surprise he's on the ticket because he's got a great record of actually doing things to improve people's lives here in this state.

BERMAN: One of the things that a lot of the people in the country saw and maybe first became introduced to Governor Walz was in 2020 during the chaos that was on the streets of Minneapolis after the killing of George Floyd.

And Governor Walz has been criticized for not calling in the National Guard sooner. Criticized by some Democrats including the mayor of Minneapolis. So how do you explain how it took so long for him?

MARTIN: Well, look, I mean the Governor, you know, ultimately did call in the National Guard. He made sure he had the largest mobilization of the National Guard since World War II and while Donald Trump was tweeting from the White House and encouraging people to take the law into their own hands to become vigilantes to go out and shoot people in the streets. Governor Walz was trying to solve one of the worst crises we've seen in our state and he mobilized as I said the National Guard. He made sure we restored law and order.

And, you know, I think post the riots I think the Governor did exactly what a governor should do which is to bring communities together to help rebuild and to help the healing process and to make sure that we addressed, you know, some of the real challenges with policing in this state but also with racism and what we saw.

And we never should see someone murdered in the streets ever again like what happened to George Floyd. And I think the Governor's leadership during that time was critical to moving this state forward.

BERMAN: Again just to be clear some of the criticism did come from Democrats this wasn't just Republican criticism about -- about how long it took to call in the Guard.

Let me ask you this do you think Minnesota is a competitive state in the election?

[08:45:02]

MARTIN: Well, look, I mean it was -- it's been close the last few election cycles. You know, we obviously have the longest streak of voting for the presidential nominee of any state in the nation. So you can't take anything for granted in this state.

You know, my old mentor in politics Paul Wellstone used to say, you run like you're 20 points behind even if you're 20 points ahead. And so the reality for us is we don't take anything for granted. There's probably more competitive battleground states out there for sure.

BERMAN: Like Pennsylvania?

MARTIN: Minnesota is on the battleground list. Pennsylvania for sure, critical battleground.

BERMAN: All right. Ken Martin, appreciate you being with us this morning, thank you very much.

MARTIN: Thank you. All right I'm hearing that just moments ago Donald Trump weighed in on whether he would debate the Vice President.

Also the EPA issuing its first emergency ban in 40 years, the commonly used weed killer that they say can impair brain development in unborn children.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, this morning for the first time in 40 years, the EPA is issuing an emergency ban. It is suspending the use of a common weed killer known as Dacthal or DCPA. It is used on crops including broccoli, cabbage, and strawberries.

[08:50:09]

The agency says it poses serious risks to unborn babies and pregnant women who are exposed to the chemical. The EPA says it can cause problems with brain development and difficulty with motor skills and could contribute to low birth weight.

Sara?

SIDNER: All right, after saying he'd debate Kamala Harris on "Fox News" or not at all, Donald Trump may have changed his mind again. Moments ago, Trump called into Fox & Friends and hinted at a potential upcoming debate with Kamala Harris. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I heard she's sort of a nasty person, but not a good debater. But we'll see because we'll be debating her, I guess, in the pretty near future. It's going to be announced fairly soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: So the nasty woman line coming back again. And when it comes to a potential debate between the VPs in front of a rowdy crowd, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALZ: And I've got to tell you, I can't wait to debate the guy.

(CHEERING)

WALZ: That is, if he's willing to get off the couch and show up, so.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

WALZ: You see what I did there?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: We saw what he did there. Let's bring in Brian Stelter, Special Correspondent at "Vanity Fair." It's so good to see you, Brian.

That certainly sounded like a challenge. He also taking a jab at him about the couch controversy, which I'm going to let you talk about.

BRIAN STELTER, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, VANITY FAIR: The couch controversy is a mess. You know, people can look it up online. It's both disinformation and also a really sick joke at the same time. And I was surprised Walz went there.

But I am not surprised that he wants to challenge J.D. Vance to a debate. I think this V.P. debate is going to be a lot more interesting than usual, Sara, because viewers already know a ton about Donald Trump. They know a lot about Kamala Harris, but they don't know a lot about Walz or Vance. And these two men have put forth different visions of what it means to be pro-family. So I'm excited for this debate.

And the good news is it does seem it's going to happen, right? Both sides do want to debate. We know that CBS had been in talks with the campaigns about debates in August. Now those are slated September. And I'm told by a source of CBS that they've offered several dates for a vice-presidential debate. And they're in active conversations about getting it scheduled.

SIDNER: You know, it's kind of hard to pin Donald Trump down on this, whether he will or won't debate Kamala Harris. He says he will debate her. But he's put caveats.

First of all, he had a debate that was scheduled that he agreed to on ABC, right? With former president -- the former president with President Biden. Of course, Biden no longer in the race. It is now Kamala Harris. Now he's saying he wants a debate to be on Fox. And now he's saying, yes, I will debate her. What are the chances, do you think, that this debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will actually happen?

STELTER: I think we heard a big change in tone just in the last hour, right? Trump's saying we're going to debate. I'm going to debate her. That's a big change in his tone from even just a few days ago when he was out there claiming there was a Fox debate on September 4th that Fox didn't actually know about.

But, you know, there are tensions with regards to debating on a right- wing network. For example, yesterday, a Fox anchor said that conversations were happening about a debate in September. And a Harris campaign official pushed back, telling me, no, that's not true. The Harris camp was not actively talking to Fox about a debate.

Now, maybe that's changed. Maybe there will be one. But I think what's more likely is that Trump is going to agree to that original ABC plan sometime in September. The date was September 10th on ABC. But we know there are multiple networks all now trying to get in on this because the Democratic ticket has changed.

So there are multiple offers from multiple networks. And it seems to me Trump now losing momentum is going to be inclined to actually, as Harris said, say it to her face.

SIDNER: We've now seen the power of debates. I mean, the last debate that really changed the course of political history was it could be argued was Nixon and Kennedy. The next biggest one, if you look at history, seems to be Biden and Trump changing the course of political history.

What do you see may happen with the VPs debating and how that might have a big impact? Whereas it doesn't necessarily have a big impact on the way that people vote. But this one could.

STELTER: And that's why this year is so unusual with regards to debates, right? Because the commission on presidential debates has basically been sidelined because the Harris and Trump camps have taken over. And they've done it themselves, negotiating with individual networks and at different points along the way. The different campaigns have more motivation, more incentive to want to get on the debate stage.

So we may actually end up with more than two presidential debates, more than one vice presidential debate. Maybe I'm being a little too hopeful. But the reason I'm hopeful is because I think these debates are valuable to the viewers.

You know, Harris, for example, has not done a sit-down interview since becoming the nominee. I know -- you know, the public has a lot of questions for her and for Walz. And debates are a way to get those answers. So, frankly, the more debates, the merrier, not just for television networks, you know, but also for the American people.

[08:55:10]

SIDNER: Yeah. For the voters themselves. I am curious, Brian, when you -- when you sort of look at this -- at this landscape and where we are, there is a certain amount of momentum that the Republicans are seeing now on the Democratic side. The Republicans are the ones that had it during their convention. It looks like that has really shifted. Do you think that will be the key to getting Donald Trump to debate because he sees this momentum and wants to stop it?

STELTER: Definitely, that helps explain the tone shift from him in the last hour or so. You know, Harris all along has been saying she wants that September 10th debate to happen. We're heading into an unusual time of year, the Democratic Convention and then the dog days of August. It's going to be Labor Day before we know it.

So the idea of a debate in the second week of September feels like an optimal window for both these campaigns, right? They will be within the two-month mark. They'll be even closer to early voting. It's in both sides interest, both campaigns interest to get on that debate stage.

And the same is true for the VPs, because both Vance and Walz want to introduce themselves to the American people.

SIDNER: It is crazy to think we have just three months until the November election. Brian Stelter, thank you so much for coming on and talking us through that. Appreciate it.

STELTER: Thanks.

SIDNER: John?

BERMAN: All right. This morning, U.S. officials are sending a message of de-escalation in the Middle East, looking to calm the rising tensions there. Of course, everyone on pins and needles about a possible Iranian strike against Israel. Hamas has named Yahya Sinwar, one of the architects of the October 7 terror attack, as the new head of its political bureau.

With us now, CNN military analyst, retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. General, great to see you this morning.

Look, we haven't seen an Iranian response yet or a large-scale Hezbollah response over the last few days. And Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the anticipation is part of the attack in a way. What does he mean there? What's happening during this period?

LT. GENERAL MARK HERTLING, (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yeah. It is surprising, John, that we haven't seen an attack yet. I mean, a lot of people anticipated that as early as last week. And I know there were a lot of folks getting spun up about the potential.

And the United States has pushed a lot of weapons systems, aircraft, to the region, as well as attempting to get the USS Lincoln carrier battle group into the region.

But what I would say is the anticipation is interesting, but it tells you what Iran might be trying to do. There were indicators that they were going to attack from multiple directions, both from Iranian launch sites in western Iran, but also in coordination with Hezbollah firing rockets and missiles from northern Israel.

So all of those things are factors. There's still, you know, a lot of debate about the potential courses of action that the Iranians will use and how they will coordinate that with all of these groups that are in the region. They're trying to control not only their own launch sites from western Iran, but also control truthfully what I call free- floating electrons of independent groups, Hezbollah, Hamas, PMF in -- PMF in Iraq and Syria, Houthis in Yemen. So they've got a bevy of folks they're trying to put together for this kind of strike.

BERMAN: Yeah, you can see, and I have dots here in all the regions, all the places where Iran has influence here. You can see the variety of factors at play here and where the attacks could come from. And that's what Israel could be very concerned about this morning.

General, while I have you here, if I can ask you one presidential- related question here. All of a sudden on both presidential tickets, and I put up pictures here, we have two former enlisted men here. We've got J.D. Vance, who was a Marine, and we've got Tim Walz, a member of the Army National Guard. First of all, it's striking how similar they looked when they were both young and in uniform. But just talk to me about the significance of this, having enlisted veterans on the ticket? HERTLING: Well, first of all, John, all young soldiers look the same. It's because we're a couple of old guys pointing that out. But what I'd say is J.D. Vance enlisted in the Marine Corps right after high school. He served for one, two or four years, of which six months of that was spent in Iraq. He was there as a public affairs specialist, which means he would go around with units reporting on their actions. He served six months in combat.

Tim Walz, on the other hand, also enlisted right after high school at the urgings of his father, saying, hey, the National Guard would be a good thing to get into. He served a total of 24 years, multiple enlistments, and rose from the ranks of private all the way up to command sergeant major.

Now, he did not retire as a command sergeant major because he didn't attend the school that's required for sergeants majors to attend. So he retired as a master sergeant, but he served in a battalion command sergeant major position, which means that's the senior enlisted member of a unit of about, well, it was an artillery battalion.